Eleanor Henderson

Dark Star: Rainbow Valley

Remote and beautiful Rainbow Valley sits on the shoulders of Mount Newton at roughly 9,500 feet. The northern side of the valley is a spectacular 500 foot white cliff, made of schist, mica, and quartz, facing an old growth forest on the southern side of the valley. By sunlight, moonlight, or starlight the cliffs glitter. The young Claris River on the east side catapults over the cliff into the spectacular Rainbow Falls, which earns its name each day at sunset. The west end is open, a lip opening out onto the distant horizon.

Today, there was an unusual confluence of visitors from different directions, with different goals on their minds. From the east, a pair of men had driven in on a poorly maintained dirt road that originated near Torren Pass. They were going to strike it rich. From the north, an eagle sought the morning aerials in its daily search for food. From the south, a kayaker was bent on making it past Rainbow Falls in Rainbow Valley to Last Resort Camp, where the stream narrowed too much to permit a kayak. From the west came something unnatural.

From a distance, you might have thought a very low cloud, or a greyish mist rising out of the valley the adjacent lowland valley. You would not have thought that for long.

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